Sri Lanka defeated an Indian team hit by Covid with 4 wickets in the second T20 international match on Wednesday to level the 3-game series 1-1 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
On a slow pitch at R Premadasa Stadium, the Lankers pursued a challenging goal of 133 and crossed the finish line in the final thanks to a practical 7th wicket partnership between Dhananjaya de Silva and Chamika Karunaratne.
The duo saved the Lankan innings in the death overs after being reduced to 105 for 6, only to record their second win of 5 games against India that month. De Silva achieved unbeaten top scoring with 40 and led Sri Lanka home along with Karunaratne, who was not eliminated at 12. Opening Minod Bhanuka also took the lead with a crucial knock of 36 of 31 balls.
IND vs. SL 2. T20I: Highlights
The Indian bowlers made a fist of the game with Kuldeep Yadav leading the way with 2 for 30 from his 4 overs while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chetan Sakariya, Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy each picked up a wicket.
But Sri Lanka’s performance came against an Indian side missing 9 of their regulars after Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Yuzvendra Chahal and Krishnappa Gowtham were excluded from the last two T20Is after being identified as close contacts by Krunal, who tested positive on July 27, what the postponement of this game by 24 hours.
India had to field 4 debutants Nitish Rana, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Chetan Sakariya because the other players were not available.
LANKAN SPINNER CHOKE INDIA
Previously, the Sri Lankans limited India to 132 for 5 on a sluggish wicket at R Premadasa Stadium after Dasun Shanaka won the throw and opted for the first bowling.
Shanaka operated with 5 spinners, of which Akila Dananjaya ended up picking the bowler with 2 wickets from 29 runs of his 4 overs, while Wanindu Hasaranga and the skipper each bagged a wicket.
Shikhar Dhawan scored 40 balls out of 42, while Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad made useful contributions, but the inexperience showed when the rest struggled not to get going on the turning wicket.
India only had 4 specialized batsmen in its line-up along with wicketkeeper Sanju Samson due to the unavailability of the 9 regulars.
The third and final T20I will be played in the same location in Colombo on July 29, after which the Indian players will return home while Krunal Pandya and 8 of his close contacts will continue to be quarantined in their hotel rooms.
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